Camarones al Ajillo tacos with avocado salsa verde

I am very excited to let you know that “from scratch latin kitchen” just got a makeover. Hope you find it easy to navigate and you all like it.

I am also eager to share this recipe with you simply because I love Tacos. Tacos are perhaps my most favorite Mexican meal. They are light and easy to prepare. And no matter what you stuff in to a tortilla you will always end up with something delicious. The good news at least for me and those living in Queens is that there are taco places everywhere. A big Mexican community lives in the Queens borough, especially in the Corona and Jackson Height area with real authentic, economical Mexican food. I made these tacos for lunch as I am trying to go back to my old way of eating where lunch is the most important and special meal of the day. And although I am trying to lose a few pounds that I am carrying all around NYC I ended up eating three tacos. The tacos were by no means unexpected; I had bought some wild shrimps the day before and intended to prepare them. I had also made an avocado salsa verde the day before with these tacos in mind. The idea was to make Camarones al Ajillo or garlic shrimps- with my super fresh shrimps, fresh cabbage, radishes, cilantro and my buttery salsa verde to be added.

Let’s talk about this Camarones al Ajillo. I happened to have a bag of Mexican chile piquin (whole piquin pods). These chiles are exquisite, with a smoking rich aroma. They add so many flavors without being spacy. I always have plenty of garlic on hand – flavorful and aromatic garlic waiting on my counter top to be peeled and dressed in olive oil to make garlic confit) and what came about was a wonderful lunch full of pleasure.

It goes without saying that this was one of the best tacos lunches I had in a while. Although my husband likes the flour tortillas I love the corn tortillas as there is something about corn tortillas that gives a taco that extra flavor and originality. You can have it with either tortilla type – – both work well here. I will soon post the salsa verde recipe in a different post. Guacamole can be a substitute instead of the salsa.

Directions:

For the garlic confit:

Place the garlic in a small sauté pan and add the oil and garlic. Cook the garlic in low fire until it turns golden brown and tender. Let it cool down for a few minutes. Place the garlic and oil in a blender and puree. Reserve

For the shrimps:

In a medium fire heat up a skillet and add the garlic puree and the piquin chile. Cook for about 3 minutes. Season the shrimps with salt and pepper and add to the skillet. Stir well. Add the wine and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the alcohol completely evaporates. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Turn the pan off and add the cilantro. Make the tacos with any of the ingredients listed and serve immediately. Enjoy!